A partnership between AMBS and National Trust aims to equip leaders with the skills to successfully sponsor the delivery of complex projects - readying National Trust to implement its 2025 strategy.
Complex Projects Sponsorship Masterclasses is a bespoke leadership development programme designed to equip senior leaders with the skills and techniques to effectively sponsor the delivery of the National Trust's most complex and strategically significant projects and initiatives.
About the programme
The programme was designed in partnership between Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) and National Trust. It aims to grow organisational capability and ready National Trust to move forward with its 2025 strategy, which will see them work in areas of increasing complexity and with new partners.
Following the success of the first cohort, National Trust has commissioned a second and third cohort of the programme, further expanding the partnership with AMBS. This decision reflects the programme's impact on enhancing leadership capabilities and its alignment with the National Trust's long-term strategic goals.
Nick Sharpe, Project and Programme Development Specialist at National Trust, said: "Our new strategy is bold and ambitious, aiming to restore nature across the country, end unequal access to heritage and nature, and inspire millions to care about these things.
"We wanted to set ourselves up to succeed in these goals by investing in our project leadership capability. AMBS have been the perfect partner, furthering our thinking with first class insights, and developing a cadre of sponsors at the Trust who are to ready lead the brilliant projects that will realise our long-term goals."
Prior to this partnership, leaders from National Trust completed an in-house course focusing on the foundations of sponsoring typical National Trust projects. The collaboration with AMBS builds on this foundational knowledge, addressing the unique challenges posed by National Trust's largest and most transformative initiatives.
Complex Projects Sponsorship Masterclasses will equip leaders with best practice tools for managing strategic complexity, enable them to navigate environments with conflicting stakeholder factors, and prepare them to guide the organisation through periods of change and uncertainty.
The programme is led by world-leading academics from AMBS. Workshops encompass a range of critical topics, including:
- Personal leadership
- Challenges in leading complex projects
- Effective sponsorship of complex projects
- Engaging stakeholders in a complex environment
- Leading in complexity, risk, and uncertainty.
Kieran Maccourt, Executive Director of Client Relations at AMBS, said: "We are delighted to continue our partnership with the National Trust on the Complex Project Sponsorship Masterclasses. The success of the first cohort has reinforced the value of this programme in addressing the intricacies of the National Trust’s most ambitious and strategic initiatives.
"The addition of two additional cohorts exemplifies our commitment to providing leadership development that empowers senior leaders to navigate complex environments, manage strategic challenges, and drive significant organisational change."
The expanded partnership shows National Trust's dedication to building leadership capabilities as it advances its 2025 strategy, ensuring its senior leaders are equipped to tackle the organisation’s most pressing challenges.